The Physician Glass Ceiling
In this episode, Halle talks to Dr. Jon Cohen, CEO of Talkspace, who discusses his unconventional journey from vascular surgeon to leading a publicly traded digital health company.
We cover:
The glass ceiling for physicians, and why people wrongly think physicians can’t run businesses
His run for Lieutenant Governor of New York, and why more physicians should get involved with politics
The role of online therapy in making mental healthcare more accessible and affordable
How Talkspace is leveraging AI to detect suicide risk, support therapists, and enhance patient care
The challenges and opportunities of running a public company, especially one that went public via SPAC
His insights on the future of healthcare and the importance of physician leadership in driving change
About our guest:
Jon R. Cohen, M.D. is Talkspace’s Chief Executive Officer, charged with day-to-day leadership of the company, and has served as a board director since September 2022.
Dr. Cohen brings more than 30 years of healthcare experience as a seasoned strategic leader with extensive P/L and operational responsibility and a successful track record of growing existing business and developing new business ventures. Most recently as Executive Chairman and CEO of BioReference Laboratories, one of the nation’s four largest commercial laboratories, he brought BioReference to national prominence during the pandemic as one of the country’s largest providers of COVID-19 testing and as the nation’s leader in surveillance testing.
Previously, Dr. Cohen spent nearly a decade as one of the five-named executive officers at Quest Diagnostics. Dr. Cohen began his career as a vascular surgeon and served as Chief Medical Officer at Northwell Health, the largest healthcare system in New York State, and as Chief Policy Advisor to former New York Governor David A. Paterson where he was responsible for all State policy and strategic planning. He completed his residency in general surgery at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center and a fellowship in vascular surgery at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital at Harvard Medical School.
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